BOSTON: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1831
The General Court convened in this city on Wednesday. There being a quorum of the members, the Message of the Governor was read from the chair………….
There are two important measures, which, as the Governor has forgotten to recommend them to the notice of the Legislature, we shall urge for immediate adoption. The first is, the obliteration from the Statute Book of the following section of the Act of June 22, 1786:
“And be it further enacted, That no person by this Act authorized to marry, shall join in marriage any white person with any Negro, Indian or Mulatto, ….and all such marriages shall be absolutely null and void.”……….
The above enactment is an invasion of one of the inalienable rights of every man, namely, ‘the pursuit of happiness’ – disgraceful to the State – inconsistent with every principle of justice – and utterly absurd and preposterous.
(Liberator, January 8, 1831 pg 3)
